Enclosure panel with ventilation section for domestic home appliance

ABSTRACT

A domestic appliance has an enclosure panel that has a ventilation section that has solid portions and open portions. The solid portions has first legs extending in a first direction, and second legs extending in a second direction. Two of the first legs and two of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions. A third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location other than either end of the first one of the first legs. A fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location other than either end of the second one of the first legs.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to an enclosure panel having a ventilation section for a domestic home appliance.

An example of an application for the invention is cooling air intake panel for a domestic kitchen cooking range.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Some modern domestic kitchens include an appliance, such as a cooking range, that has an internal heat source or other feature that requires ventilation. Often this ventilation is achieved through openings in a rear panel of the appliance that supplies air to a cooling fan.

Some appliances have a mesh screen that is attached over an opening in a panel of the appliance in order to allow air to enter the appliance. These mesh screens can be attached to the panel by, for example, welding or threaded fasteners. These mesh screens can be of a woven construction that results in rows and columns of aligned square openings.

A standard Underwriters Laboratory test exists for testing the penetrability of openings in particular domestic home appliances. Parts of UL 858 require that particular openings in particular domestic home appliances must resist a defined articulated finger-shaped probe such that the probe cannot penetrate the opening. The above-described mesh screens often do not sufficiently resist penetration by the UL required probe and/or require a large amount of material to provide sufficient resistance to penetration. This large amount of material can add expense to the appliance and can also result in a smaller than ideal open-to-blocked ratio of the ventilation opening. The UL standard and the associated test is designed to simulate a user's finger entering the appliance housing by way of the ventilation opening.

Applicants recognized these problems and developed a solution as described herein.

SUMMARY

The invention achieves the benefit of a low cost ventilation panel that passes the above-described UL penetration test by providing a particular panel design for a domestic home appliance. The particular panel design resists penetration by the UL required probe under the conditions prescribed in the UL testing procedure.

The invention achieves this benefit by providing a ventilation panel that has integrally formed ventilation holes that are bounded by panel material of a particular layout.

By aligning, for example, horizontal elements (or “horizontal legs”) of the panel structure such that ends of the horizontal legs intersect vertical legs at a point other than the ends of the vertical legs, a stronger opening (formed by the legs) results. In contrast to a woven mesh screen, the inventive structure provides support for the legs in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the legs.

Particular embodiments of the invention are directed to a domestic home appliance, having a housing; an enclosure panel attached to the housing, the enclosure panel having a main body; an operating section that performs an appliance operation of the domestic home appliance that is usable by a user of the domestic home appliance; and a heat source located inside the housing. The enclosure panel has a ventilation section positioned within the main body, the ventilation section has solid portions and open portions, and provides ventilation to the heat source, the solid portions comprise a plurality of first legs extending a first length in a first direction, and a plurality of second legs extending a second length in a second direction, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the first legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the first direction, each of the second legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the second direction, a first one and a second one of the first legs and a first one and a second one of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions, a third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location, the first intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the first one of the first legs, and the first intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the first one of the first legs, and a fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location, the second intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the second one of the first legs, and the second intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the second one of the first legs.

Other embodiments of the invention are directed to an enclosure panel for a domestic home appliance having a housing, an operating section that performs an appliance operation of the domestic home appliance that is usable by a user of the domestic home appliance, and a heat source located inside the housing. The enclosure panel has a main body; and a ventilation section positioned within the main body, the ventilation section having solid portions and open portions and being configured to provide ventilation to the heat source. The enclosure panel is configured to attach to the housing of the domestic home appliance, the solid portions comprise a plurality of first legs extending a first length in a first direction, and a plurality of second legs extending a second length in a second direction, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the first legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the first direction, each of the second legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the second direction, a first one and a second one of the first legs and a first one and a second one of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions, a third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location, the first intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the first one of the first legs, and the first intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the first one of the first legs, and a fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location, the second intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the second one of the first legs, and the second intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the second one of the first legs.

Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first intersecting location being equidistant from the first end of the first leg and the second end of the first leg.

Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first intersecting location being opposite the second intersecting location in the second direction.

Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first legs and the second legs being integrally formed with the main body of the enclosure panel.

Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the enclosure panel having a plurality of the ventilation section.

Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first length being equal to the second length.

Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first length being less than 0.10 inch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following figures form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the disclosed features and functions, and should not be used to limit or define the disclosed features and functions. Consequently, a more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments and further features and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a cooking range having a mesh cooling grille;

FIG. 2 is a view of a mesh cooling grille in accordance with FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of a cooking range in accordance with embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view of an enclosure panel in accordance with embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial view of an enclosure panel in accordance with embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a finger probe being inserted into the cooling mesh grille of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a finger probe being inserted into the cooling mesh grille of FIGS. 1, 2 and 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a finger probe being stopped by an enclosure panel in accordance with embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a detail view of a finger probe being stopped by an enclosure panel in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

In the description of embodiments disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,”, “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivative thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “attached,” “connected,” “coupled,” “interconnected,” and similar refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise.

As explained above, embodiments of the invention provide a solution to the problems associated with a mesh type cooling grille on a domestic home appliance.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an appliance 100 having an upper cooking area 110, side panels 140 and a back panel 150. Upper cooking area 110 has, in this example, three grates 120 that cover six burners 130. Back panel 150 has, in this example, two openings 190, each of which is covered by a separate mesh screen 195. Openings 190 can be, for example, openings that provide ventilation to an internal space of appliance 100.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of mesh screen 195. In this example, each mesh screen 195 is attached to back panel 150 by eight spot welds 200. Other attachment methods such as, for example, screws or bolts can be used. Mesh screens 195 are separate pieces that are attached to back panel 150 either before or after back panel 150 is attached to appliance 100. The operation of attaching mesh screens 195 to back panel 150 can be time consuming and/or require specialized equipment.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an embodiment of the invention using an example of the inventive ventilation panel. FIG. 3 shows an appliance 300 having an upper cooking area 310 that has, in this example, three grates 320 that cover six burners 330. Appliance 300 has side panels 340 and a back panel 350. In addition to back panel 350, appliance 300 has a ventilation panel 370 that partially encloses the back side of appliance 300. Ventilation panel 370 includes, in this example, three ventilation openings 380. Fewer or more ventilation openings can be included. In this example, ventilation panel 370 is separate from back panel 350. In other examples, ventilation panel 370 can be the entire back panel of appliance 100. However, making ventilation panel 370 smaller than the entire back panel of the appliance can facilitate manufacturing of ventilation openings 380.

FIG. 4 shows an example of ventilation panel 370 having three ventilation openings 380. In this example, a plurality of holes 410 are provided for attaching ventilation panel 370 to appliance 100. FIG. 4 also shows a plurality of holes 420 they can be used to further secure ventilation panel 370 to appliance 100. Holes 420 can be for attaching ventilation panel 370 to a specific piece of equipment (such as a fan) inside appliance 100 such that a particular ventilation opening 380 aligns properly with that piece of equipment. More or fewer holes 410, 420 can be used.

FIG. 5 shows a more detailed view of ventilation opening 380. Holes 420 are shown positioned over attachment points 421 of appliance 100. In this example, ventilation opening 380 is formed by a plurality of vertical and horizontal structural components that will be referred to as “legs”. In this example, each opening is defined by two horizontal legs 520 and two vertical legs 510. The opening bounded by two horizontal legs 520 and two vertical legs 510 is made more structurally sound and penetration resistant because horizontal legs 520 outside of the opening intersect vertical legs 510 at a point other than the ends of vertical legs 510. This is in contrast to a woven mesh screen in which the ends of the horizontal pieces intersect the ends of the vertical pieces. In such a woven mesh screen (or any other structure where the ends of the horizontal pieces intersect the ends of the vertical pieces) a horizontal force imposed on a vertical piece is not opposed by any structure on the opposite side of the vertical piece. This results in a relatively week resistance to lateral forces.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show mesh screen 195 being subjected to a probe 600 such as, for example, the UL specified probe discussed above. FIG. 6 shows probe 600 being moved toward mesh screen 195 and coming in contact with mesh screen 195. The size of the openings in mesh screen 195 may be smaller than the diameter of probe 600, but as probe 600 is pressed against mesh screen 195 sections 895 of mesh screen 195 deflect and allow probe 600 to penetrate mesh screen 195, as shown in FIG. 7. This penetration happens because each deflected section 895 is not supported on a side opposite to the probe. In other words, the lateral force exerted on deflected section 895 is not met with an opposite force from any structure other than deflected section 895.

FIG. 8 shows probe 600 being moved toward and contacting ventilation opening 380. FIG. 9 shows a larger scale view of what happens as probe 600 contacts and is pressed against ventilation opening 380. In FIG. 9, as probe 600 is pressed against ventilation opening 380 is comes into contact with the left vertical leg 510 and the upper horizontal leg 520. Often in this situation, the right and bottom edges of probe 600 will move past the front edge of ventilation opening 380 and press laterally against the right vertical leg 510 (shown by Arrow A) and press vertically down against the bottom horizontal leg 520. As illustrated by Arrow A, this lateral force is opposed by the structure of the horizontal leg 520 that is opposite to arrow A. The horizontal leg opposite to Arrow A in this example prevents the right vertical leg 510 from bending to the right and allowing probe 600 to penetrate ventilation opening 380. By providing a horizontal leg on each side of the opening bounded by four legs, probe 600 is prevented from bending either vertical leg in a direction that would make the opening larger. As long as this condition exists for either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, probe 600 cannot penetrate ventilation opening 380.

Ventilation openings 380 can be cut out of a piece of sheet material from which ventilation panel 370 is made. Non-exclusive examples of devices for cutting ventilation openings 380 are laser cutters, plasma cutters, and water jets.

The above described structure provide protection against penetration by probe 600 while simultaneously providing a maximum open-to-blocked ratio for ventilation opening 380 for a given ventilation panel thickness. Embodiments of the invention provide a significant improvement over a louvered opening in that the invention provides 180 degrees of open air access to the ventilation opening, whereas a louver provides about 90 degrees of open air access.

It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the invention. In addition, all combinations of any and all of the features described in the disclosure, in any combination, are part of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A domestic home appliance, comprising: a housing; an enclosure panel attached to the housing, the enclosure panel having a main body; an operating section that performs an appliance operation of the domestic home appliance that is usable by a user of the domestic home appliance; and a heat source located inside the housing, wherein the enclosure panel has a ventilation section positioned within the main body, the ventilation section has solid portions and open portions, and provides ventilation to the heat source, the solid portions comprise a plurality of first legs extending a first length in a first direction, and a plurality of second legs extending a second length in a second direction, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the first legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the first direction, each of the second legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the second direction, a first one and a second one of the first legs and a first one and a second one of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions, a third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location, the first intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the first one of the first legs, and the first intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the first one of the first legs, and a fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location, the second intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the second one of the first legs, and the second intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the second one of the first legs.
 2. The domestic home appliance of claim 1, wherein the first intersecting location is equidistant from the first end of the first leg and the second end of the first leg.
 3. The domestic home appliance of claim 2, wherein the first intersecting location is opposite the second intersecting location in the second direction.
 4. The domestic home appliance of claim 3, wherein the first legs and the second legs are integrally formed with the main body of the enclosure panel.
 5. The domestic home appliance of claim 4, wherein the enclosure panel has a plurality of the ventilation section.
 6. The domestic home appliance of claim 5, wherein the first length is equal to the second length.
 7. The domestic home appliance of claim 6, wherein the first length is less than 0.10 inch.
 8. The domestic home appliance of claim 1, wherein the first intersecting location is opposite the second intersecting location in the second direction.
 9. The domestic home appliance of claim 8, wherein the first length is equal to the second length.
 10. The domestic home appliance of claim 2, wherein the first length is equal to the second length.
 11. An enclosure panel for a domestic home appliance having a housing, an operating section that performs an appliance operation of the domestic home appliance that is usable by a user of the domestic home appliance, and a heat source located inside the housing, the enclosure panel comprising: a main body; and a ventilation section positioned within the main body, the ventilation section having solid portions and open portions and being configured to provide ventilation to the heat source, wherein the enclosure panel is configured to attach to the housing of the domestic home appliance, the solid portions comprise a plurality of first legs extending a first length in a first direction, and a plurality of second legs extending a second length in a second direction, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the first legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the first direction, each of the second legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the second direction, a first one and a second one of the first legs and a first one and a second one of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions, a third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location, the first intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the first one of the first legs, and the first intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the first one of the first legs, and a fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location, the second intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the second one of the first legs, and the second intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the second one of the first legs.
 12. The enclosure panel of claim 11, wherein the first intersecting location is equidistant from the first end of the first leg and the second end of the first leg.
 13. The enclosure panel of claim 12, wherein the first intersecting location is opposite the second intersecting location in the second direction.
 14. The enclosure panel of claim 13, wherein the first legs and the second legs are integrally formed with the main body of the enclosure panel.
 15. The enclosure panel of claim 14, wherein the enclosure panel has a plurality of the ventilation section.
 16. The enclosure panel of claim 15, wherein the first length is equal to the second length.
 17. The enclosure panel of claim 16, wherein the first length is less than 0.10 inch.
 18. The enclosure panel of claim 11, wherein the first intersecting location is opposite the second intersecting location in the second direction.
 19. The enclosure panel of claim 18, wherein the first length is equal to the second length.
 20. The enclosure panel of claim 12, wherein the first length is equal to the second length. 